Pardeeville Triathlon 2010

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Weather- 80 and sunny-no wind
Start Time- 8:00 a.m.
Distance- Sprint

My summer so far has consisted of fun runs, bike rides with friends and swimming when it's hot out to cool off. I noticed it was July and I haven't done a tri yet so I decided to do Pardeeville the night before the race.


Swim: The water was quite warm but everyone still wore a wetsuit to swim faster. I raced in the elite heat so we got to go off first at 8:00. My friend Jon was racing and last year I finished one place ahead of him. We are both former swimmers so I hoped to draft off of Jon in the swim. The race started and I got behind the leader (not Jon). After the first turn, he seeemed to be zigzagging and a few others were coming up on our right. I got behind the guy passing us and we rounded the second buoy next to each other. Normally I would save energy and just draft behind someone the whole race but I knew I was going to lose some time on the bike and run so I decided to hammer the last stretch and come out first.

T-1 I lost one spot to someone whilst putting on my shoes but then passed him on the road when he was playing with his shoes on the bike.

Bike-I tried to hang in as best as possible but got passed by several bikers. The nice part was that everyone was spread out and I didn't see any drafting at all. I was happy to get off the bike in about 7th or so.

Run-I knew I was ahead of Jon but also knew he ran 18 flat last year. I got passed at about mile 1 but felt o.k. There was a guy in front of me who looked to be slowing and I caught him and passed him at mile 2. The rest of the run was uneventful and I felt strong at the finish but very hot. Ended up 6th out of about 350.

The race was a lot of fun and I saw tons of friends all happy at the end-many took home plaques for age groups. We stayed until the end and cheered in the last finisher who started crying at the finish. It's impressive to see how many people come out for these races and I love seeing all the smiles on peoples faces at the end.

I wasn't smiling because Jon beat me by one place. I guess next year is my turn again.

WISCONSIN IRONMAN 2009

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Madison just hosted its 7th annual Ironman. The weather was nice for spectating, about 80 and sunny-maybe a little too hot for the racers though especially because it warmed up late afternoon.

Best part to watch-the swim. Watching a mass start of 2000+ people at sunrise is a beautiful thing. One nice thing for me (I spectated) was being able to get around very easily on my bike. I felt sorry for all the people who had to drive from spot to spot or walk long distances from parking spots at each area.

Besides the swim, my favorite is watching the finish. Crowds line up on both sides of the street and you get to see a lot of true emotion on the atheletes faces.

My brother Ryan raced, (his 7th ironman in a row) and had a very good race-PR.

For anyone who hasn't seen the race or anyone considering racing here in Madison, check out the pictures below. From what I hear, this is the best Ironman to do besides Hawaii because of the fun crowd support, scenery, and challenge.

Good spots to watch your friend or loved one include the swim-you can watch from up above on the Terrace and then catch swimmers as they run up the winding road to their bikes, Main Street in Verona is a fun and busy place to watch bikers, Stadium bar on the run course is good because runners pass by four times, and anywhere near the capitol is good to watch transitions and running.

TRYING FOR CHILDREN'S TRIATHLON

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Check out those sweet white tires.

Ottowa Lake at Sunset-after I finished setting the swim course.
Me and my friend Matt volunteering nearby the tri to raise school

supplies for kids. I was the hot dog.
Me with my replacement Brewer sausages.
Setting the swim course.
Saturday before the kid's race.

I did not race this event which takes place late July near Occonomowoc, Wisconsin. Instead, I helped Race Day Events produce the race.

Trying for Children's is a unique race because it has a separate kids race on Sat. and a super sprint, sprint, and olympic on Sunday for adults.

The kids race is really neat and fun to watch. There are kids racing from age 4 to 14. The bike racks look hilarious with bikes with training wheels on them. All the kids seem to have a very fun time and seemed to get very into the race.

The adults race on Sunday was big with about 600 people participating. If I remember correctly there were about 22 heats of swimmers. There is an elite wave and the race is USAT sanctioned so there were about 4 draft marshalls on the course riding on the back of local Harleys. From the results, there were a lot of draft penalties which I was pleased to see because I personally feel that drafting is really starting to ruin the sport of triathlon.

By helping put on this event and working Thursday through Sunday night, I found out that putting on a race is actually much harder than racing one-at least for this distance.

In terms of results, Geargrinder had a great presence and took the top 3 in Mens and Womens for the Oly. Nice work Geargrinder.

If you haven't done this race before, I would reccomend getting a campsite at Ottowa Lakes Campground (where the race takes place). It was really nice to stay only a short walk from the race and not have to worry about driving around, parking, traffic etc.

Trying for Children's is a good race to do because of the wonderful scenery on the bike, including a blue barn, a very clear and fast swim, and a run that takes you by specatactors several times.

Hope to see you there next year!

Pardeeville Triathon

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Yesterday was the Pardeville tri. This race is very cool because it has a small town feel, the bike and run are quite flat, and there is great support on the run. Capital City Multisport had a good showing with three members bringing home hardware.

This was my first time racing here. I had a nice swim and came out first-then slow tranish and was second on the bike. I passed the first biker and was riding first until my bro passed me. Then I got passed by a few legit riders and eventually some drafters.

The ride was fast and flat except for a few sections of tailwind. Ryan had a great bike and averaged about 23.8 or so for the whole 15.

My run was uneventful because I had about 1 min ahead and behind me. Ryan was right in the middle of a group on the run and had a nice run and finished 6th overall. I ended up 12th overall.
It was a fun race. Jenny from Wistri series does a great job (I think she raced this tri and won the female group).

I would reccomend this race to anyone who is looking for a fast, fun, race and looking for a smaller hometown fee.

Congrats to Ryan G who finsihed 6th overall with a great swim,bike and run. (without drafting).

Also congrats to Chris Lopez who is a newly minted triathlete. He has been training for long distance races but decided to check his endurance. He had a great first sprint, finishing 20th overall with a fast bike and run. Nice job Lopez. Watch out for this guy when IM Moo comes around! He is a powerful biker and has a solid run.

LAKE MILLS TRIATHLON

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Weather-rainy and chilly
water temp-warm
wind- not much

I recently raced the Lake Mills Triathlon. I have done this race many times before and was glad to be back. There was a minor change to the bike course due to construction but the rest stayed the same.

I started in the elite heat and from past experience know the swim starts out fast. I sprinted the first 25 yards or so and began drafting the leader. I lost him at the buoy and spent the rest of the swim next to someone so I didn't need to look up at all. I came out 3rd and felt good.

The bike was fun and I felt good although I was passed by many people. At the turn around I saw friends Cindi and Ryan behind me. There wasn't as much drafting on the bike this year that I noticed which was nice.

My run felt good as well. This course is great for people like me who like flat and fast runs.

In the end I finished 5th in my age group and 20th overall. It was a fun race except for the rain.

AMERICAN TRIPLE T

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Weather- 85 and sunny
format- 4 triathlons over three days that add up to Ironman distance
best part of race-prologue and scenery on bike
worst part of race-hill after hill
Words to describe the races-fun, fun, I can do this, these hills are not where it is at

This past weekend was the American Triple T in Ohio. It takes place at Shawnee State Park in Ohio. Very scenic. Imagine very long hills with lots of green trees, quiet country roads and single lane fire roads to bike on, lots of dogs that like to chase you on your bike, and a gravel/ rocky run path with a long hill. Also, lots of college girls from Shawnee state volunterring as well as a lot of friends/ family members at the start/finish cheering you on and an announcer who announces you every time you come through. By the way, it seemed Wisconsinites made up about 1/4 of all the participants based on the announcer.

Prologue-Friday Night-
After driving about nine hours with the Race Day Events van packed full of triathletes, bikes, and wheels, we arrived at Shawnee Park. The drive down was uneventful. Along for the trip were friends Cory and Kim, and a few guys from the UW tri team. (Kim and her partner took first in the female team and won bike frames). Upon arrival, everyone got ready for the first race- 250 swim, 5 mile bike and 1 mile run according to the race director although it turned out to be about 400 swim, 3 mile bike and 1 mile run.

I told myself I would take it easy but once the race started found it hard not to race with everyone. I even had on toe clips on my bike to save extra time in the transition since it was such a short race. (Thanks RD for the tip). Overall this short race proved to be very fast and fun. Most wore wetsuits even though the water was about 70. The bike was a short sprint up a very long hill and then quick descent. The run was very fast on grass and gravel out and back. Overall, a very fun race.

After the race we bought supplies at the local Kroger store (actually about a 30 min drive round trip). Everyone went to the top of the hill where the cabins were. It was like a triathlete village-about 12 cabins all with porches filled with bikes and parking spaces filled with bike racked vehicles. Some stayed at the hotel on top of the hill instead of cabins. We stayed with Madison triathletes Heather and Steve who had a great race and won wetsuits for third in their division.

Saturday-first Olympic
At 7:30 a.m. the first olympic took place. The order for all the races was supposed to be seed times but people were unsure whether it was based on USAT scores and their number or the seed from the previous race at this event. Many people who were seeded near the back end of about 400 racers moved up and the race directors ok'd this. All of the races went off with the first person then next person every 5 seconds. I thought the swims and bikes would be crowded but they were pretty spread out. The lake seemed fairly shallow. It is long and narrow and has a few decent sized carp in it. A little more brown than a Wisconsin lake but not too bad.

In my first oly, I again had trouble holding back and ended up racing pretty hard. I took the swim easy as I was in the middle and didn't have any fast swimmers to draft off of. The bike was interesting, the first few miles seemed super dangerous with two dogs chasing after me and a rider behind me almost getting taken out by an oncoming truck. Overall, the dogs thinned out and the traffic was pretty sparce. On this first oly there is a short nasty hill.

The run felt pretty good since my legs were still fresh. I ran about 7:05 pace or so. The course is out and back I would estimate about 90% is either uphill or downhill. It's fun for the first time but after you run the same course in the afternoon and then twice on Sunday, it is not cool.

I finished this first oly quite happy and in about 47. Little did I know things were going to go downhill. The UW tri guys that rode with us had great races in the olys and half with one of them finishing top 10 overall in half.

Saturday-Second Oly
This race is different from the first in that it starts with the bike and then swim, then run. Since I raced the relay with bro-Ryan we rode together. We took turns pulling mostly with him doing slightly more work. Unfortunately for him, he is a much quicker descender and had to wait on a couple nice long descents. It wasn't as fun as I thought it would be riding as a team. I was imagining like a nice group ride with lots of rest and didn't consider that with only two people, there is a lot of pulling.

We got off the bike and jumped in the water. I tried to lead so Ryan could draft but there were other people around. We finished the swim together and ran together. The hills were getting to me by this point and Ryan would drop me on the uphills with me passing him on the downhills.

We managed a good pace and passed our friends Cory and Ben on the run. (They later destroyed us in the half the next day. I admit to holding Ryan back also).

Sunday-Half Iron
This race may have been fun but for the previous two days. I woke up feeling alright and felt fine on the swim, but felt week as soon as the bike started. I had to keep forcing Ryan to slow down to my pace and he did the majority of pulling. The hills on the bike got to me- it wasn't the length or steepness, but it seemed like the longest flat spot on the whole 56 miles lasted for about 1 mile or less. Plus my legs were pretty toasted from the days before. I thought that since we were riding slow that the run would be fast.

I was wrong. From the time I got off the bike, I continually got slower on the run. The hills sucked the life out of me and I had to jog them at walking pace. I am proud that I only walked during the water stops, but it didn't matter because my run pace was about the same as the walkers. We got passed by about 150 runners which was harsh. I felt bad for Ryan because I could tell he had a lot left but had to wait for me.

I was very happy to finish this race and get off of these repeating hills. Although there was one steep hill that stands out, I think my main problem was that there were very few flat spots on the course and my legs were not prepared.

Overall the race was very hard and not much fun for me. Plus Ryan had to wait up so we will never know how fast he could have raced it.

The ride home was uneventful. We actually made it through Chicago without traffic problems believe it or not.

Would I do the Triple T again? Don't know. I am more a fan of short tri's and definately a fan of flat courses. I would reccomend the race to anyone though because it truly is a unique experience. Imagine 400+ triathletes all wearing the same jersey and all racing the same course over and over and staying in the same area. One thing that I will remember is all the athletes who chose to ride up to the cabins (up a giant hill) each day after the races.